Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Elkhqrt Loke, wl Round 2 Ju.tc 3, 2OO5 AMA sup€Pmoto chamPionshiP (Left ro righr) Micky Dymond, rhe Unlimired podium. Dovid Boffeleuf ond Ben Corlson celebroie on Vvhere the first Supermoto race was a Honda-Honda, Yamaha-Yamaha parade for the first 14 laps, the Supermoto Lites support race that followed looked like a Honda-Yamaha parade. The racing was intense, however. Cassidy Anderson took the lead as the lighti changed and Graves Yamaha rider Brandon Currie would later claim that Anderson put on a bit of a dirq/ move at the start. "l got a Eood iumP, but I had the door shut on me," Currie said. "Cassidy came over and hit my front wheel. lalmost went over rhe handlebars. I can't let him do that next time." Currie stayed on Anderson's rear wheel for the first 15 laps in the l8-laP race. "l was having to ride a lot more con- servative than I would have liked," said Anderson. "l had to hug the inside which is a line I wasn't used to taking in qualify- ing iust to make sure that Brandon Currie couldn't come up underneath me. lt made me pump up a little bit and ride a liftle more conservative. I feel that I had some more speed if I needed it. I was trying to ride smooth and not make any mistakes." On the penultimate lap, Currie let out his aSgression with a nearly successful pass coming out of the motocross Section. "l almost had him coming off the dirt going down the hill," said Currie. "l was a little on the outside and he still had a line, so I didn't get by him there." Anderson won the downhill duel, Curde mounted a second charge, but fell in the first ri8ht-hand turn in the paved section. "l tucked the front and I fell over," said Currie about the incident. Currie quickly remounted and was under way some 12 seconds behind Anderson yet four seconds ahead of Thiebault. Thiebault never came under attack while in third. "l did not find a good rhythm with the bike," said the Fr€nchman. "l was not so conlident. I was not comfortable on the track, on the bike, or in my mind- I will need to ride more before the next race to set up my bike. The susPension is Proba- bly too soft and the bike has a bad balance between the front and the rear." The drama between Anderson and Currie ran on after the race when it was discovered that Currie had used a special Dunlop rear tire. Normally Supermoto Lites motorcy- cles use a Dunlop I 55 section rear tire. ln the first round at Fontana, Thiebault tried a 155 rear that are more commonly used on the 450cc Supermoto and Supermoto Unlimited class motorcr,cles. Thiebault found some favorable characteristics 'l could have won the race easy.' lt was not so. He was better than me in this race and I was in second. But I was happy with my race.'' Fillmore finished third, seven-plus sec- onds behind Kunzel. "l was struggling a bit in the dirt," Fillmore said. "lt was rougher and I didnt have good lines. I colld really tell that Peo- ple were showing me a wheel everywhere. I am extremet happy to finish third." Nicoll lost fourth place to Burkhart on the last lap. "There's too much pavement and not enough dirt," said Nicoll about Elkhart Lake's Supermoto course. "l don't like 8o- kart-type tracks with flowing corners. l'm much better in parking lots. l'm afraid next week fat Shawano] cottld be worse," Herfoss, Baffeleuf, and Dymond finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, resPectiv€ly, rid- ing the final laps well apart from each other' 5UP€RMOTO LITES The support classes produced more exciting racing, and more controversy. Mv Owru Rnce 7 Troy Her{oss Supermoto Sthr6th Place Herfoss struggled to make time during the practice and qualitint sessions thus hit final-race placings were better than he expe€ted- "ln the second race I got a pretty Sood stan and I had the speed, for sure. I 7 my hands off the handlebars ius( to see what would haPPen The whole thing iust shimmied." 4 lohn Lewis Sup'ermoto Unlimited/9th Place 54 DarvlAtkins Supermot6 Unlimited/6th Place t , T Lerfvis eamed a third-place flnish at Fontana and was upbeat ofl the 5eason, but now a trarning in,ury has the KTIY rider's chamPionshiP hopes in doubt. "L.st Thursday - nine days ago - I broke my fourth metacarpal in my lelt hand. So I've 7 a t got held up in traflic all the time. I \aas li8htinS and dicint with Kun Nicoll. ljust could not pass him. lthink I could have got third in tiat race for sure. I got to the end of the race and saw Henry and Burkhart coming. I thought, 'Oh, it's toing to happen soon.'I made a bit ofa desPerate move on them in the dirt. I actually overshot a tum and Burkhan tot pa$. That rtarted a sort of chain reaclion. Oh, well, it was tood." 357 GaryTrachy Supermoto Unlimitedrsth Place ( $ ri t, iust been king it and trying not to I from a tack of experience. The technical asPect is a learninS curve for us. The bike has a mapPing lor the fuel iniection and now we have a device so I can add more fuel if I want while I am on the track. We made some chantes on the bik6 before the race. we were having a Problem off the bottom - the bike was hesitatinS. We were tryint to 8et the fuel iniection set to run smooth, but we went in the wronS direction. We made some other changes and that was io the wrong direction, too. I had to keeP it at a very hiSh idle and drop the clutch. That made me Pull a wheelie and make a very bad start. So I staned in eighth instead of the first four where I should have been, easily. Then it was all uphill. I tried to focus, but it was hard to be smooth .s the bike was mistirlng. I tried to be late on the brakes and Pass a few people. ln the end I t.ied to pass a guy going into tum four. I took a aisk goint around the outskle and there was a hpped rider there. The 8uy that was behind me in sixth sne.ked up tlle inside. That's ra

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